Qantas baggage handlers arrested on tarmac in organised crime sting

Qantas baggage handlers arrested on tarmac in organised crime sting
Edited by Travel Weekly


Two Qantas baggage handlers have been arrested on the tarmac over the weekend after allegedly unloading 100 kilograms of cocaine from QF 64 from Johannesburg.

The arrest is part of a major AFP sting into a drug syndicate which police will allege has ties to serious organised crime including gangland figures such as Bilal Haouchar.

According to the Daily Telegraph, court documents reveal that five bags were loaded with cocaine and put onto QF 64 with two Qantas baggage handlers waiting at Sydney Airport to collect the illegal contents of the luggage.

Following over a year’s worth of investigations, the AFP alleges that this was not the first time the route had been used to get drugs across the Australian border and that the two Qantas staff were crucial to the operation.

Following the airport arrests, Federal police executed four search warrants in nearby suburbs Coogee, Mascot and Hillsdale.

AFP Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy said that the facilitator of the job had liaised with organised crime figures.

“People with trusted access in an airport precinct are critical to the successful operation of Australia’s tourism and trade sectors, but the AFP will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those who abuse this trust by assisting and profiting from organised crime,” Det Supt Cressy said.

“We will allege the organiser of this importation was well-organised and well-resourced, while the men working with trusted insiders had the potential to assist numerous criminal endeavours if they were allowed to continue unchecked.”

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